[b]"The Biggest Order..."[/b] Gurgle-Thump whispered as he moved to stand by the door. [b]"We obey. We obey the Biggest Order."[/b]

[b]"Please do not tell the Eel,"[/b] Splosh-Krack added as he joined the other Monitor.

As they turned away from him to open the door, Leo crossed his fingers as he always did before doing something daunting. Whatever it was that was calling to him, it was likely something powerful and he was likely approaching an incredibly dangerous encounter. But it had to be done. He face what the kuo-toa dared not. He had to give fuel to the fire of their belief in him. If he didn't, he would never be strong enough to save his loved ones at best and the kuo-toa would eventually start doubting his divinity at worst.

Leo uncrossed his fingers as the door cracked open with a great deal of complaint and forced himself to show no hint of disgust as he was assailed by the sight and stench of death. He then took care to keep any sign of curiosity off his face when he saw that most of the water in the forbidden chamber was being contained within by magic.

Then he saw the floating statue in the middle of the room.

Leo was no stranger to this particular situation. The statue looked like a beautiful woman while she was facing away from him, but he knew enough stories to know that when she turned around, the statue would reveal itself to have some sort of horrifying visage. And sure enough he was right... Leo still found himself attracted to the statue even when he saw she had an exploding mushroom for a head though. Whoever had sculpted those curves had done an amazing job.

[i]'Hey! No! None of that right now! Stay focused.'[/i] Leo's instincts kicked in as the distraction almost jeopardized his act.

Returning to the task at hand, Leo pondered what he beheld before him. At first he though the statue to be some representation of Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungi. But as he considered all the dead kuo-toa around the statue, another idea came to him. The fish folk had been living in the cathedral for longer than Leo had been with them. And since their unwitting ability to manifest deities through sheer faith was a defense mechanism against the dangers of the Underdark, they had to have been revering something before he came along. Was this statue his predecessor? Was this statue the god the kuo-toa had bowed to before him? Had she called him here in some last ditch effort to win back the worship after losing it to him?

Leo's pondering was cut short then as the statue's face twitched, the sickness returned in force, the gravity doubled, and the call became a compulsion. Leo resisted all of this while continuing to act like it wasn't affecting him at all. And SHOOGBIMBHALD stared down the statue with an utterly unamused expression on His face. [b]"This cathedral is mine now. The kuo-toa are mine now."[/b] He told the statue with a tone of total finality that would brook no argument. [b]"All I leave to you is a simple decision."[/b] SHOOGBIMBHALD reacheda hand out to the statue. [b]"You can pay homage, recognize me as your lord and master, and be permitted to persist under my power."[/b] He closed His outstretched hand into a fist then, the beginnings of an Eldritch Blast crackling across His knuckles as He continued. [b]"Or you can resist, continue to defy my coming, and languish in the darkest recesses of my dominion until the day you finally fade. The choice is yours."[/b]